Holding Onto You
by silver dragongurl
Summary: Jou gets beaten up after Honda tells him his feelings for him, and ends up in a coma in the hospital.He had almost lost Jou before, but it looks like he might lose him for good. Writer's block is gone! YAY! [CHAPTER 5 IS UP...FINALLY!] R&R people!
1. Reaching Out

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh because if I do, then I'd make it a yaoi anime and the dialogue would be totally different. Hehehe. . .^___^. But I do own the plot of this story. 

Notes: This is my second Yu-Gi-Oh fic. But anyway, I am warning you that this is a Honda/Jounouchi yaoi fic. So if you're not a fan of this pair or you just don't like yaoi, then you may go. But if you like yaoi, then enjoy this fic and please review! I have seen only a few Honda/Jounouchi fics, and I really like this pair so much! So review. . . thanks!!! 

Now, on with fic. . . don't want to keep you all waiting! ^__^ 

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HOLDING ONTO YOU 

CHAPTER 1 - 

"Hey Honda, can I stay at your house for awhile after class?" 

"Huh?" Honda looked up from his desk to see Jounouchi standing beside him. 

"I said, could I stay at your house for awhile after class? Please." By the sound of Jounouchi's voice, he practically sounded like he was begging. 

"Sure Jou. You know you're always welcome there in the house. You almost live there." Honda laughed, while Jou just smiled, relieved. "But, why do you want to stay there now?" 

"Why do you keep on asking? Is it forbidden to stay at your house in the last minute?!" 

"Hey, take it easy man, just want to know." Honda was surprised when Jou suddenly snapped. 

"Well, nothing. I don't feel like going to my house now. But," Jou clapped his best friend's shoulder. "Thanks buddy. I really appreciate it. You're such a good best friend. I'll see you later after class." And with that, Jou went out of the classroom. 

"Yeah, just a best friend." Honda muttered as he went back into doing his homework for the next class. "That's all I am to him. No more." He sighed. . . now he can't finish his homework. Honda put his hand under his chin and stared on the blackboard. He didn't know how he'd go through the afternoon because Jou will be in his house again. Jou. . . the one Honda's falling in love with now. 

Honda's been in love with Jou since Battle City Finals. Well yes, he had been in love with Serenity that time. But when Jou almost died because of Yami Marik in their duel, Honda was the most hysterical person there. He did everything just so Jounouchi would wake up. And when he did, he almost cried a river out of worry. . . but then, Honda realized it wasn't just worry. It was that time that he realized how much he cares for his best friend and also found out that he was definitely in love with Jounouchi Katsuya. He cried because he was afraid to lose Jou---this was where he felt sure he was really in love. Otogi immediately knew this and confronted Honda. . . 

_~ Start of Flashback ~_

_Honda was waiting outside of Jou's room as the doctor checked on him to see if he was okay. This wasn't actually the reason why he went out as the gang was inside the room. He needed to calm down because what he did awhile ago got on his nerves. He can't believe he made a scandal like that in front of everybody. . . getting Jou out of his bed, forcing him to wake up, then getting mad at Jou, then crying like a baby. . . it was just so embarrassing remembering it. He thoughts were broken though when the door opened and Otogi came out. Even though he was frowning, Honda could see amusement in his eyes. Why was he amused? Did he think what I did was funny._

_"Can we talk?" But before Honda could answer, Otogi dragged him in the far corner of the corridor._

_"Look, Otogi, I know what I've done there awhile ago was stupid and embarrassing, but you didn't have to make it look like it's funny or something because I can see you're amused and that----"_

_"You're in love with Jou, aren't you?"_

_"Huh?" Honda stared at Otogi._

_"I said you're in love with Jou. . . aren't you?"_

_"Wha--? What the hell are you talking about?!"_

_"Don't deny it Honda. What you did awhile ago was far beyond caring for your best friend. You love Jou so much that you're really afraid to lose him. I can see it in your eyes while ago that you don't know what you'd do when he dies. The others would see it as just worry for your best friend, but you can't fool me."_

_"How would you know Otogi? How would you know about this kind of thing?"_

_"I don't have to explain to you why I know this kind of things. Just stop denying, Honda. You definitely love Jou so much."_

_Honda smirked. "Oh yeah? Well, for your information, I am not gay because I am in love with Serenity and we're always fighting over her. So, that just proves that I am not in love with Jou."_

_It was dice king's turn to smirk. "You think I didn't notice that? I told you awhile ago Honda, you can't fool me. You falling in love with Serenity was just a cover up so that people won't know that you're falling for her older brother instead of her. So that everyone won't go hysterical when they find out you're gay you go gawking over Serenity instead of Jou. I'm telling you now Honda: **falling in love with Serenity was just a cover up.**"_

_"I, I. . . damn you Otogi!" And at that, Honda punched Otogi's face and sent him flying onto to the wall. But even so, Otogi was still smirking as he wiped the blood from his mouth. And somehow, Honda's shout had led the gang, including Jou to go out the room and check what was going on._

_"Why are you being so defensive, eh Honda?" Otogi said, standing up. He looked at Jou and at the others, and then back at Honda. "Being defensive means you're guilty."_

_"What's happening here? Honda, what did you do with Otogi?" Jou asked accusingly._

_Otogi shook his head. "No, this is nothing, Jou. Honda," Otogi approached the brown-haired boy and whispered, "after Battle City, I'm going back to America because I have to see what's happening with my DDM game. But I'll be back after a year or so. And when I get back, I want to see that you have told him what you feel and that you two are already a couple."_

_"Wait a minute. How is it that you're assuring yourself that we would become a couple?"_

_Otogi just smiled. "Don't deny this feelings Honda! If you do, it might be too late. I know you love him so much, you might as well tell him as soon as possible. You don't want to lose him again, do you?" And with that, Otogi walked away towards his own room, leaving Honda stunned and the others confused. Then after a minute, Honda walked away towards his own room as well, but not before looking at Jou with saddened eyes._

_~ End of Flashback ~_

Otogi's last word echoed through Honda's mind as soon as the flashback was gone. _I know you love him so much, you might as well tell him as soon as possible. You don't want to lose him again, do you?_ Yes, he didn't want to lose Jou again, but he didn't have the guts to tell his best friend his true feelings as well. Otogi was right from that time. . . he was denying that he loves Jou because he didn't want anybody else to know. The moment he saw Jou struck by the lighting of The Winged Dragon of Ra in his duel with Yami Marik, he was afraid he had lost Jou and was not able to tell him his true feelings. And, again, Otogi was right. . . Serenity was just a cover up. Only he saw everything. 

_Maybe I should tell him later._ Honda thought as he closed the book that he was reading. _It's not that I'm thinking he'll almost die (knock on wood) but I can't wait to any longer to tell him. I don't know if he'll accept it or not, but the important thing is that I tell him immediately._ Honda nodded as he got ready for his next class. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Honda waited nervously for Jou on the school's front gate. He knew he had to tell it later or it would be a very long time before he tells his feelings again. He was so nervous that he fidgeted on his fingers, and because of this he literally didn't hear Jou call him until he was grabbed in the neck from behind. Due to this action, Honda turned around and pushed Jou on the wall. 

"What the hell did you do that for?!" Honda yelled. "You almost scared me to death" 

Jounouchi, on the other hand, was shocked and a bit scared by Honda's reaction that he didn't answer immediately. But what Honda didn't know was that he was actually hurting him, though it was not his fault. Jou frowned in pain as Honda pushed him more onto the wall. "Ho----Honda. . . yo---you're hurting me." 

"It was then that Honda realized what he was doing and immediately let his best friend go. "Oh god. . . I'm so sorry man. I didn't mean too. I was just so nervous and then you suddenly came up to me. . ." 

"It's okay. It was really my fault 'coz I startled you." 

"No, it's not okay. I have hurt you, and I would never do that to you." 

"Look Honda, I told you it's fine!" 

"No, it's not fine---" 

"Let's just go to your house, ok?" Jou said firmly, which meant that argument was over. 

"I. . ." Honda sighed, then nodded. "Ok." Both boys walked to Honda's house in silence, even until they went inside and Honda went to prepare a snack, while Jou watched TV. As he prepared their snack, he was thinking how he'd tell Jou about his feelings towards him. Maybe kiss him. . . no. That would startle him more. Or just plainly tell him. . . but what if he doesn't return his feelings? Damn, nevermind! Just tell him! 

"Uh. . . Honda?" 

Still dazed, he answered, "What?" 

"You're spilling the orange juice." 

"Huh?" Honda looked down and saw that the orange juice was already spilling from the glass. "Oh shit! Damn it!" He put the pitcher down and looked for a rag. 

"Here. . . I got one." Jou said, but Honda found a rag as well, and as he put the rag on the wet spot, so did Jou, which resulted to both their hands touching. They were still for a few seconds, both boys looking at each other in the eyes, before Honda realized what was happening and let go of Jou's hand first. 

"I. . . I. . . don't worry. I'll take care of this. Just wait in the living room." 

"No. . . I won't leave until you tell me what's wrong with you." 

"What---? Nothing's wrong with me! I'm just. . . uh. . . tired, ok? 

"No. it's not okay! You've been jumpy lately. This isn't you. . .what's wrong?" 

"Nothing!" Honda turned his back from Jou and continued wiping the wet spot. 

"Honda. . ." 

"I said nothing!" 

"But. . ." 

"You don't want to know!" 

"Of course I do! We're best friends, and friends tell! If you tell me, I could help you. I don't want to you keeping secrets from me. Just please----" He was cut off when he felt warm lips on his own. Jou just stood there, and on the few seconds that Honda's lips were on his, the blond never returned the kiss. When the brown-haired boy broke the kiss, he looked calm as he searched Jou's widened eyes. Then he sighed. 

"There. Does that tell you everything?" 

Jou just stood there, fingers on his lips and still in shock. 

"For crying out loud Jou, say something! I don't want you keeping quiet about this!" 

"I. . . I. . . I have to go. I still have homework to do." At that, Jou got his bag and was about to get out when Honda grabbed his wrist. 

"Jou, I just want to tell you that the kiss was true. I've always wanted to tell you for so long that I love you very much!" 

Jounouchi glared at him as he roughly detached from his grip, brushing it aside. "You're making a big mistake, Honda. You do not deserve to love someone like me." And with that, the blond ran out of the house. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Jounouchi ran as fast as he could until he reached into a deserted alley and dropped onto his knees, panting and crying. He knew what he did awhile ago was unexplainable to Honda. But that's just it. . . he didn't want to explain it more, and that was why he went out of the house immediately. As he was catching his breath, Jou felt something wet drop on his face, and before he knew it, rain was pouring down. And even though he didn't like it, he had no choice but to go home. He stood up and ran towards his home, backpack on his head. 

When he got home, he went up immediately to his room, closed the door, opened his desk light and lay down on his bed. He liked it when the house was like this: quiet, peaceful, and serene. But when six 'o clock comes, that's when this house becomes the opposite. . . and bad things start to happen as well. And speaking of bad things. . . Jou looked at his wall clock, and saw that he had only ten minutes left before this house turns into hell again. The rain seemed to sense what's going to happen in the house because it kept pouring down harder as the minutes tick by. Usually, Jou doesn't wait for six to come because he was usually out or at Honda's house or even just walking around the park. But now he had to wait until. . . what? Maybe, he should've come home yet. But it's not too late. . . he could still go out. . . 

Before he had come into a decision (which is to go to Yugi's house) he heard the front door open and knew he was too late. But Jou didn't get up. . . the more he lay still, the more he will be unnoticed. He stared at the ceiling as he listened to the footsteps that first stopped in the kitchen, then went up the stairs until he heard it stop, then a door open, footsteps and close. Jou sighed in relief. . . as long as he was still and not do any movement that could be heard in the room beside his. When he thought he would be able to go through the night being unnoticed, he heard a knock from outside his room, and froze. 

"Katsuya!" A low, growling voice yelled. "Katsuya, I know you're in there! I saw your desk light open when I came up! Let me in!" 

Jou looked at the said light and groaned softly. "Damn it! I forgot to put off the light." At the same time, thunder roared from the gray sky. "Uh. . . I'm doing homework, dad." 

"Homework can wait! I want to talk to you. . . right now!" 

_Shit! Not again! Oh god. . . I don't want to go through this one more time. _

"KATSUYA!" 

"Uh. . . yes dad." Jou stood up, and found that his whole body was shaking, just like before whenever an episode like this would happen. Jou opened the door to find that, obviously, his father was drunk again (_as always_), and he looked rather angry and irritated (_maybe because he and his friends had a fight with each other again_). But there was something that Jou was sure: put drunk, angry and irritated together, and an episode would come up again. That's why he refused to let his father in when he said he wanted to step inside the room. 

"Dad, I'm doing my homework. If you want we can talk outside, but not here." 

"Look, there is nothing wrong if I talk to you inside your room. Other fathers usually talk to their sons inside their rooms." 

_Yeah, maybe loving and anti-alcohol fathers would, but definitely not you!_"Yeah, but it would be more appropriate if we talk. . . maybe in the living or dining room. It's more quiet." 

"Katsuya (_don't you know how much I hate it when you call me by that name, dad!_) I don't want to argue as to where we'll talk as long as I talk to you!" And with that, Jou's father shoved him inside the room, closed and locked the door behind him, and was nearing towards his son. 

"Da-dad. . . you know. . . you're drunk. I. . . I think you should just rest, and maybe we can talk later." Jou said, voice shaking, and trying to push his father away from him. "When you're a bit okay already." 

"But I'm okay, and this talk can't wait!" At that, Jou's father pushed his son on the bed, and hovered over him. He smirked as he saw fear on Jou's face. "You see my boy, if you had just let me in your room immediately, I wouldn't end up being angry." At that, he caressed Jou's cheek. Much to the blond's disgust with this action, he slapped the hand away. 

"So, you're finally learning to fight now! You never resisted before, why the change of heart?!" 

"I finally realized how much of an animal you are! I can't believe you're even my father!" Jou spat on his father's face. He knew that as a son, that was very disrespectful to do to his father. But having a father like that in front of him now, he wouldn't even think twice of doing that action. 

"How dare you do that to your own father! You don't even have respect for me!" 

"Who would even have respect for somebody as disgusting as you?! Not even a rat would look twice at you! That's how repulsive you are!" Then Jou smirked. "But then again, come to think of it, rats like foul things. I wouldn't be surprised if all the rats in this house came near you right at this very moment." 

"Why you ungrateful brat!" And with one angry yell, he was thrown hard into the floor, landing on his stomach. He saw his father disappear from his room, but it was only a few seconds then he was back, so he had not time to escape. And this time, he had a thick black leather belt in his hands. "I let you live in this house even though I didn't want to! I don't even know why your mother let you live here instead of her!" 

"I didn't want to live here either! Now I know why mom left you!" 

"Why you---!" He took off Jou's shirt and whacked him at the back with the belt. Usually, Jou would yell in pain whenever this was done to him. But now that he had enough and was also prepared for this, he just stayed silent and let the belt slash his back, even though deep inside him, he was writhing in pain. He tried to stand, but his body was beginning to get weak and so was on all fours as he was hit. "You brat! If it hadn't been for me, you wouldn't be in that pathetic school of yours!" 

He turned his faced to his father. "Ha! I was in that school because of me, not because of you. Because of me, I was able to pay the house bills. And because of me, Shizuka is seeing the world more clearly now than before. I other words, it was no thanks to you at all!" 

"You succumbed brat!" Another whip in the back. If Jou could see his back now, he was sure that it was full of slashes. He could feel the blood prickling in his back, and knew too that his other wounds that were about to heal had opened again for what? The nth time? Then, his father also whipped him on his chest, which also resulted to the re-opening of his almost healed wounds. This was the reason why his wounds wouldn't heal completely. 

He could stay silent while his father whipped him continuously at his back and chest, but he would not stay silent at what his father would want next later on. He had enough of that. . . if before he had given in because he had no choice. . . now, enough is enough. 

Jounouchi had realized that he had to be strong on this awhile ago when his father went in. He had to be strong, especially now that he found out Honda loves him. He regretted it what he did awhile ago with his best friend. He wouldn't tell Honda about what's happening here in the Jounouchi household, but at least the fact that Honda loves him is making him strong and making him fight his father. He will go back to Honda and tell him that he loves him too. He had to make it to this night and fight. Jou's thoughts were broken though when the cracking of the belt had stopped. The next thing he knew, he was slammed hard on the floor, his father was on top of him again and his hands above his head. 

"Aaaaahhhh!" he yelled as the hard slamming (and the coldness of the floor) hit his very wounded and bleeding back. 

"Finally, I heard you yell in pain. I have to admit you're not that weak as before. You're learning to fight." Then his father smirked. "But I know you won't be able to fight on this one because if you do, you'll sure to lose your job and you won't be able to go to that school of yours. Remember," He traced Jounouchi's chest (which was also covered with wounds) with his fingers. "I have very close connections to where you work, and I can let you be off immediately. You see, I'd rather want you to stay here at home than be at school or work." 

"You know what, I'm happy that Shizuka can see now, but I would really hate it if she has to see your ugly face right now! If that happens, then I wish she had really gone blind! You are the last thing that I want Shizuka to see," Jou glared daggers at his father. "Even if you're her father!" And with that, he spat for the second time on his father's face. 

That was the last straw, for he was thrown into his desk hitting not only his back but his head as well. Jou felt blood prickle on his forehead and he was becoming dizzy. _Oh God, don't let me be unconscious. . . that's the last thing I need now._ But he knew he was hit on the head hard, and that any moment, he would get unconscious. 

Then he was thrown again on the floor. "Ha! This time, you won't be able to escape! Let's not take this long." And with that, his father started taking off his son's pants. _No, I would not allow this anymore._ The blond tried pushing his father away, but it was no use, as his chubby father was heavy. Jou started to panic when he felt cold wind touch his legs, and pushed his father away even though it was really no use. 

Just as he was about to give up hope, Jou saw a plate under his desk. He then remembered that he usually eats inside his room and, being the lazy boy that he is, never returns the plates that he uses. He hurriedly tried reaching for the plate as he felt his father's lips on his neck, chest, and then on his belly. As his father was busy "exploring and playing"* his son, he didn't notice that Jou was already nearing in reaching the plate. Before his boxers could be taken off, he got hold of the plate and smashed it right onto the back of his father's head. All happened too quickly that he didn't notice his father drop limply on him before he felt something heavy on him. Jounouchi moved his father on his side, and tried to stand up. But as soon as he sat up, he felt himself go dizzy and weak all over. 

_No way. . . I shouldn't go unconscious._ "I. . . have. . . to. . . go. . . to. . . Honda. . ." He felt himself getting weaker and weaker as he stood up and moved. With all his might, he was able to put his pants on and get a jacket from his closet and putting it on his shoulders, limping. He felt more blood prickling on his back and chest as he went out of his room and down the stairs. As he got out of the house, his vision was getting blurry and felt his body couldn't hold it anymore. He thought more of Honda as he walked on the sidewalk under the splashing rain, which was falling harder on than Jou had thought awhile ago. The more he walked farther, the more his body was getting weaker and his vision getting more blurry because of dizziness and the rain. 

"Please, please just let me get to Honda. Oh God, just let me get to him." Jounouchi murmured as he tried walking faster. He didn't know how long he was walking and where he was, but as he stopped in front of a white gate, he couldn't take it any longer and any minute now he could pass out. He didn't know whether he would wake up again or not. As he couldn't see anymore and his eyes were already dropping to a close and he was on his knees already, all he thought about was Honda and the fact that he wasn't able to tell him how much he loves him too. 

"I love you Honda." He said as he fell unconscious on the cold ground, rain splattering on his wounded form. 

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A/N: Um yeah. . . a bit of a cliffhanger. Actually, I was thinking whether to end it like I had ended it now, or end it with something else. Then, I thought, it's better to end it this way. . . hahahaha. I am so damn mean! But, don't worry I'll update soon. 

I am so sorry for being so violent to Jounouchi *lots of Jounouchi fans throwing torches and pitchforks at me*. Believe me, even I had a hard time writing Jou's "violent" scene. . . I couldn't look at the monitor and read the part I had written. And I know that the scene of Jou was very long, but that was already planned. 

*I am so sorry for the terms but I couldn't find anything that suits this gross situation. You just don't how I feel now writing up this whole scene. . . I shudder in every word I put here. Good thing I have "Shuffle" as background music to keep me going on. It's one of my favorite Yu-Gi-Oh songs. . . it's actually the Battle City Opening Song. It's such a great song 'coz the beat is so nice and makes me wanna nod my head. ^___^ 

Another thing: My two Harry Potter fics will be updated when summer starts as I still have that mental writer's block. This Yu-Gi-Oh fic is sort of a fill in for the dead air. 

If you have questions, suggestions, and comments, just out it in the reviews then I may answer you back or thank you through email. You can also email me at malfoy_gurl09@yahoo.com if it's something private. 

So, as a final word, please review. Please, please review, so that I can have some inspirations to do chapter 2 (reviews are my inspirations, whether good or bad. . . believe me). Review. . . thanks!!! ^__^ 


	2. Faith

Disclaimer: Again. . .I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. 

Hey guys, here's the chapter two. This is where we see what happens to Jounouchi after he falls unconscious on the sidewalk. 

Anyway, I'd like to thank you for my first two reviewers in this story: **Little Leila** and **the Ghost of Jounouchi**. You are very much appreciated. . . thank you so much! 

Anyway, that's for now, so enjoy this chapter, and. . . review, review, review!!! 

By the way, I don't know the name Honda's older sister, so I'm creating a name for her. . . meaning the name's mine. I saw in the net that she has an older sister, so I'm adding her into this story, only the name came from me. 

Some reminders: 

Imooto - younger brother 

*********************************************************************************************** 

HOLDING ONTO YOU 

CHAPTER 2 - FAITH 

Honda looked out of his closed bedroom window. It had been raining hard ever since Jounouchi ran out of his house. It looks like the rain was matching his mood. He sighed as he went to his desk and opened the light. In front of him was a picture of him and Jou weeks after Battle City occurred, side by side and smiling brightly. He sat on his desk chair and stared at the picture. They really were the best of friends, but now. . . he think hey wouldn't be friends anymore. Now that he had told Jou about his true feelings towards him. The moment Jou ran out of the house, he knew things wouldn't be the same anymore. 

But something that Jou said before he went out of the house bothered him. _You're making a big mistake, Honda. You do not deserve to love someone like me._ What did those words mean? He was trying to figure out what those words meant ever since Jou left, but he couldn't. . . he doesn't even know why Jou had said that. A part of him told him that he should have a long talk with Jou because as Honda looked into the blond's eyes when he said those words, he saw that he returns his feelings. Honda saw that Jou loves him as much as he loves Jou. But what's with those words? 

"Damn it!" He yelled as he slammed his fist on the desk. He looked back outside. If it wasn't raining so hard, he would've followed Jou and ask him what he meant about those words. Honda didn't even know if he could talk to him tomorrow. Knowing Jounouchi, he might avoid him after what he had done. Honda couldn't take it like this. . . he had to talk to Jou somehow. 

Honda decided that sitting and contemplating about his situation would be useless. Besides, he had to go down and make dinner, as his older sister will be home anytime soon. As he stood up, Honda felt a sense of foreboding and the first thing that he looked at was the picture of him and Jou. His heart skipped a beat as he immediately went down and dialed Jou's landline number on the phone. If he was right, Jou should be home by now. 

"Jou, answer the phone and tell me that you're alright!" Honda said, voice shaking, as the eighth ring came. The tenth ring, and still there was no answer that Honda had put down the phone already. He shook his head. "No. . . Jounouchi is all right. It's just my imagination. . . nothing's happened with him." But his senses of foreboding when it came to Jou were never wrong. One could feel whether the other is in trouble or not. This was how close they were and those intuitions were never wrong. He looked outside to see that it was still pouring hard, and there was no way that he could leave the house and go to Jou's until his sister came back home. He paced back and forth on the living room as he looked at the clock and saw that it was six-thirty. Where was his sister? She should've been at home thirty minutes ago. 

Just when he decided that he'll just leave a note that he'll go to Jou's house, he heard a the front door slam and saw his black-haired sister taking off his her jacket. 

"Leika! Where the hell have you been?!" 

Leika looked up. "Hiroto! It was so traffic because of the rain that's why I came home late! The rain is poring so hard you might think that there's a big storm coming. Good thing there's no strong wind, or I'd really have a hard time coming home." Then she noticed Honda's worried face. "Imooto, what's wrong?" 

"Onesan, I have a feeling something bad is happening with Jou." Honda explained what he felt awhile ago in his bedroom. 

"Have you tried calling him?" 

"Yeah, but nobody's answering! Leika, I have to go to his house and see if it's okay!" 

"But it's raining hard out there, Hiroto! I can't just allow you to go out there and soak in the rain! You'll get sick to death!" 

"I don't care, onesan! I have to go! I love him and I don't know what I'll do if something bad happens to him!" As soon as Honda realized what he said, he covered his mouth then turned back from his sister. Leika, on the other hand, stared at his younger brother's back, open-mouthed. 

"Hiroto?" she said after a minute's silence. 

"Onesan, I. . . I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shock you like this, but----" 

"I knew it." 

"Huh?" He turned around. "What do you mean you knew it?" 

"I know about your feelings for Jou ever since Otogi told me about what you did when Jou almost died in his battle with. . . who's that. . . Ma---Marik? Well anyway, ever since you and Jou met, I knew someday you'll fall in love him." 

"You mean you knew that time that I was gay?" 

Leika shook his head. "No. I knew that time that someday you would be gay. As you went with Jou and the others in the Duellist Kingdom, I know that you'll be one soon." 

Honda just stared at his sister. If this weren't a serious situation, he would've laughed right now. Remembering about the situation, he straightened up and looked at Leika. "Well, now that you know about my feelings towards Jou, can I go now to his house and see if he's all right?!" 

"I told you, Hiroto, _I am not going to allow you to go out there while it's raining so hard!_" 

"I'll take the car!" 

"You still don't know how to drive it!" 

"I drive the motorcycle already!" 

"That's totally different! When I said no, I mean no!" 

Honda was angry now and he gasped for breath as glared at his sister. "Fine! You won't let me drive the car. . ." He took Leika's jacket that she hung at the back of the front door. ". . . I'll take the motorcycle then!" Then he got out of the house towards the garage. 

"What?! Hiroto, no! Please!" Leika followed her brother. "Please Hiroto! You're not even sure if something bad had happened to Jounouchi! It's just intuition!" 

"It's not just intuition, onesan!" Honda yelled through the rain. "It's love! I love him! Even before, I know whether Jou's in trouble or not! This kind of feelings are never wrong!" He put on his jacket and helmet as he went towards their white gate to open it. Nothing prepared him though for what he saw when he opened the gate: someone was lying unconscious in front of their house. Honda's heard skipped a beat the second time that day when he saw the color of blond on the head of the unconscious form. 

"Jou!" Honda shouted, going towards the lying person, not caring that he'd be soaking wet. 

"Hiroto, what the hell are you----oh God!" Leika gasped as she saw Jounouchi cradled in Honda's arms. "Oh my God, what happened to him?!" 

"I don't know, Leika, but we've got to bring him to the hospital!!!" Honda said, getting panicky. "Jounouchi's unconscious and it looks like he has a high fever. And I saw some wounds on his back and chest." 

Leika nodded. "I'll go get some towels and the keys of the car!" It was only a few seconds before she was out again with an armful of towels and the car keys on her mouth. She put the towels on the front seat. "You seat at the back and dry Jou off with the towels! C'mon!" 

Honda got inside the car and lay Jounouchi on his lap. He could feel the blond shivering, and immediately took off the wet jacket he had on his shoulders and his pants as well. Even if they were wet, his boxers were a bit dry so he didn't take it off. 

"Onesan, hand me the towels!" Honda dried him off first before wrapping some dry ones around Jou's upper and lower body and another one on his head. "Are we there yet?!" 

"I don't know. . . it's hard to tell with this rain! How's he?" 

"Not good!" Honda's voice was shaking. "Even though he's unconscious and I've dried him up already, Jou's still shivering! And. . . it looks like he's going to have a fever!" He caressed his best friend's cheek. "Oh Jou, what happened?" He whispered, though Leika could hear him. "Be strong, Jou. Oh please. . . don't die on me now!" He cried as he embraced and cradled the blond. "I love you! I don't want to lose you again!" 

Leika looked at his crying younger brother sadly on the rearview mirror. She then saw how much Honda loves Jou, and couldn't imagine what would happen to her younger brother if Jounouchi dies. She prayed that Jounouchi would be okay, and that whoever had done this to the blond would pay dearly. After a few minutes, Leika saw Domino Hospital and stopped in front of the emergency room. 

"Imooto, we're here!" As soon as those words were out, Honda went out of the car, Jounouchi on his arms, and towards to the emergency room. 

"Nurse, there's an emergency here!" Honda called out inside. And soon enough, about four to five nurses immediately went to him and took Jou into a stretcher. The fifth nurse, a blond girl, asked questions. 

"What happened to him, sir? Is he your relative?" 

"I'm his best friend. We don't know what happened, but I found him in front of our house unconscious and wounded. Even we were surprised and shocked when we saw him there!" Honda said as he saw Jououchi being taken to one of the rooms. 

"I see." She said as she wrote down what Honda had said on the clipboard she was holding. "We have to observe him, sir. How long had he been there in front of your house?" 

"I don't know. I just saw him there when me and my sister got out of the house." 

The nurse nodded. "Okay sir, that's all we need to know for now. We have to observe him first. If you want, you can wait here until we've finished observing him." 

"Okay. Please, nurse, save him." 

"We'll see, sir. I have to go now. By the way, what's the patient's name?" 

"Jounouchi Katsuya." 

"Okay. We'll get back to you later." With that, the blond nurse went towards the room where the other nurses had brought Jounouchi. 

"Imooto, I'm sorry. . . I had to find a place to park and called Anzu on her cell phone to tell her what happened. She'll tell Yugi and the others immediately. Where's Jounouchi?" 

Honda nodded towards the doors in front of him as he sat down. "They're observing him" Then he looked up to Leika. "What do you suppose happened to him, onesan?" 

Leika sat beside his younger brother. "My only guess is that he was beaten." 

"Beaten?! By who? And that's impossible because it's usually Jou who beats up people, not the other way around." 

Leika shrugged. "I don't know. Actually, you should be the one who knows since you know him more than anybody else." 

"Yes, but lately, I feel he's been keeping secrets from me. I know he's not telling me everything and that he's hiding something." Honda sighed. 

"Don't worry, we'll find out who did this to him when Jounouchi wakes up. Then we'll make sure that someone will pay." 

Honda nodded. He looked at his watch: it was just seven-thirty. He thought that it was already really late. _Oh Jou, please be all right._ Even though it was still early, Honda felt exhausted that he dropped his head on Leika's shoulder and, after a last glance at the room where Jou was, immediately fell asleep. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Honda didn't know how long had he been sleeping, but when he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a boy with tri-color hair. 

"Yugi?" 

"Honda, you're awake!" Some other voices yelled. By the sound of their voices, it looked like he was the one who got unconscious instead of Jounouchi. 

"Uh. . . yeah." He straightened up and stretched. "Easy guys, I'm not the injured one here. And speaking of the injured one, what happened? Where's Jou?" 

"No news yet. We just got here fifteen minutes ago." Ryou said. 

"What? How long had I been sleeping?" 

"Almost an hour. We don't know what's taking so long." Leika said worriedly. 

"Damn!" 

Don't worry, Honda. He'll be okay." Anzu said, holding his hand. 

Honda sighed as he looked at his friends, and saw that only Yugi, Anzu and Ryou were there. "Only the three of you? Have you told his mother and Shizuka?" 

Yugi nodded. "They said that they'll be here in about 2-3 hours. You know that they're back in Germany, right?" 

"Yeah. Jou told me." 

After a few minutes of talking and waiting, a doctor finally went out of the room where the blond was taken awhile ago, and was asking the nurse who bought the blond in the hospital. 

"They're over there, doc." The blond nurse pointed towards Honda. 

"Excuse me, are you relatives of," The doctor, a brunette girl, flipped at he clipboard. "Jounouchi Katsuya." 

"We're all his friends." Honda explained. "His mother and sister will be here in three hours as they're in Germany. We don't know where his father is." 

"Hmmm, I see that you're all close friends with the patient. I'm Dr. Aoi Mizuro. Can I talk with all of you privately in my clinic?" 

All five exchanged worried glanced at each other as Honda said yes. Why did Dr. Mizuro have to speak to them privately? She can just tell them then and there that Jounouchi is okay and they can visit him immediately. It's just some wounds and a fever, right? 

Dr. Mizuro led to the elevator, then to a hallway in the fourth floor until they reached to a brown door that had a sign "Dr. Aoi Mizuro" hanging and a "The Doctor is Out" sign. Honda noticed that she didn't flip it to "The Doctor is In", so that meant that she really intended to talk to all of them _only_. 

"Please take your seats." She said as she took one behind her desk. "You're. . ." She looked at Honda. 

"Oh, I'm Honda Hiroto. And my sister, Leika, Anzu, Yugi and Ryou. . . Jou's friends as well." 

Dr. Mizuro nodded. "Okay, I'll go straight to the point. Katsuya's condition is not good now." 

"What do you mean by 'not good', doctor?" 

"Well," she flipped on her clipboard, "The reason we took an hour to observe him is because there's more to his condition than the wounds and high fever. Plus, he hit his hard that it was a miracle he didn't get unconscious immediately and was able to reach your house. If I'm not mistaken, someone beat him up before he came there." 

"Beat him up? Who would beat him up? And is that all, doc?" 

The doctor shook his head. "No sir. When we observed him, we also found out that. . ." She flipped her clipboard again. ". . . Katsuya is anemic and malnutrition as well. And because of this, his high fever is still there. He has a very weak body, and without enough iron in his system, Katsuya is in a bad condition now." 

The others gasped when Dr. Mizuro was finished. Honda couldn't believe it. "Oh God!" Honda said, voice shaking. "What will happen to him, doc? Will he live?" 

"The fever won't go down for a few days and his wounds won't heal that easily. I'm afraid to say this, but there may be a possibility that Katsuya won't make it. As simple as having a weak body, being anemic and having a fever can let a person die. I'm so sorry." Dr. Mizuro looked at everyone sadly. "Let's just pray that he'll make it. He'll need all the prayers that he can get." 

"NO!!!" Honda stood up and went out of the clinic, ignoring his friends and sister calling him. As soon as he stepped out, he banged his fist on the white wall, frightening a few passersby and patients that were in the hallway. "No! This. . . this can't be! Who would do such a thing to Jou?! Why is he anemic?! He always eats. . .he's such a glutton! Why can't he make it?! _Why did this have to happen?!_" Honda yelled as he banged his fist so many times on the wall until it started to bleed. Leika and the others got out of Dr. Mizuro's clinic when he heard him yell and stopped Honda from hurting himself more. His sister shrieked when she saw the blood on her brother's hand. 

"Hiroto! What the hell are you doing?! This won't solve anything!" 

"Hmph!" 

"Imooto. . ." 

Honda turned back from them. 

"Imooto, Dr. Mizuro said that we visit can Jounouchi now. She'll be out in a minute. . . she'll come with us 'coz she has other things she has to say about Jou's condition." 

"You go ahead with her." Honda said, his shaky voice telling that he was crying. "I don't want to hear any of her talk about Jou's condition. I'll. . . I'll be in the canteen downstairs." 

"Honda. . ." Ryou said. "I'll. . . I'll go with you." The brown-haired boy faced him, his face streaked with tears, then nodded. 

Ryou faced Anzu. "Anzu, can I borrow your cell phone so that Leika can call and tell us where Jounouchi's room will be. We'll go there when Honda wants to." Tea nodded and handed her phone to the Ryou. "Thanks. C'mon Honda." 

Leika, Yugi and Anzu watched as the two headed towards the elevator. The tri-colored boy faced Leika, "Is there something about Honda that we don't know?" 

The black-haired girl just stared uneasily at her younger brother's two friends. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"Here, Honda." Ryou handed him the Coke. 

"Thanks, Ryou." 

"So," Ryou took a seat across his friend. "You going to tell me about why you reacted that way awhile ago. By the looks of it, there's something more that you're not telling us." 

"There nothing to tell, okay?!" Honda snapped, facing his side stubbornly. 

Ryou quirked an eyebrow. "Why are you being so defensive?" 

"I am. . . I am not. . .I. . ." Honda sighed. "Damn! You're just like Otogi!" he muttered. 

"Huh?" 

"Nothing." And with that, Honda told Ryou everything about him being in love with Jounouchi. From the time when Jou almost died, to Otogi's talk with him, to not having the guts to tell Jou, until now in the present when he had told the blond about his feelings. 

Ryou frowned at Honda after he finished telling everything. "You mean all this time you never told any of us except Otogi that you're in love with your best friend?! Otogi's not even your friend; he's your rival with Shizuka! And speaking of Shizuka, you're in love with her!" 

"Ryou, I told you awhile ago, that was just a cover up, just as Otogi had predicted. And for your information, I never told Otogi. He himself put two and two together and found it out for himself." Honda ruffled his hair, locks of it sticking out from different directions. "Believe me, I plan on telling you. I just wasn't ready yet to tell everyone." 

"I see. Sorry about scolding at you." 

"It's okay. You have the right to. . . after all I didn't tell you immediately and you're my friends." Honda sighed. "I just don't know what'll happen now. I don't want to happen what happened before to him." 

"You mean when he almost died? But he didn't die, Honda." 

"Yeah, but I don't know if he'll even live now. Dr. Mizuro said that he might not live---" 

"Dr. Mizuro said that we should pray for hi to live. That means that we have to be strong and believe that Jounouchi will live." Ryou held Honda's hand. "Let's have faith, Honda. And. . . "Ryou hesitated. ". . . I know this may sound crazy, but when you get to his room, talk to him about anything even your love for him. Even though he's in a coma, I'm sure part of Jounouchi would hear you. You know, for me, it's good when you talk to a comatose person. It can let that person be determined and fight for his life, knowing that someone believes in him. And while doing so, believe that he'd wake up. Then, when he's okay, settle things with him." 

Honda just stared at the former Millenium Ring holder. But despite that, he listened to every word that he said and was somehow touched by it. Ryou was right; he must believe that Jou would wake up because he desperately wanted him to wake up. Honda wanted to tell everything that he wasn't able to tell to the blond before, whether in a coma or when he's awake already. Honda nodded determinedly. 

"You're right, Ryou, I should believe that there's till hope even if he's in a bad condition now. I don't when he'll wake up, but I'll wait until he does so." He smiled at his white-haired friend. "Thank you so much. You're such a great friend. And you would make a great prophet as well." 

"Honda!" The white-haired boy punched his friend playfully on the arm. "But, it was nothing. I just don't want to you to get so depress and lose hope because of this. Neither any of us wants to see you like that." Ryou looked at his watch. "By the way, aren't we going there yet? Leika called awhile ago to tell Jou's room number while I was buying us some drinks." 

Nevertheless, despite Ryou's touching speech and his vow that there's still hope, Honda couldn't help be afraid on what he'll see when he gets inside Jou's room. He didn't know what he'd look like in the hospital bed, and just thinking that made him hesitate to go further. 

"Honda?" 

"Huh?" 

"Do you want to go now? It's okay if you don't want to. I know you're scared of seeing him in that hospital bed." Honda frowned at him. How come he knew almost everything. 

"No. . .let's go. I have to see him sooner or later." Then he stood up, as well as Ryou and, though scared to what he'll see, bravely walked out of the cafeteria and got into the hospital elevator. The moment it stopped on the fourth floor, Honda let out a breath and hesitantly stepped out of it. 

*********************************************************************************************** 

AN: Well, that's it. . . nothing much. Just bringing Jou to the hospital and a speech from Ryou (one of my favorite characters!). And I was a bit crny in the part where Honda was saying "I love you" to Jou in the car. Well, I thought it was like that....well just review about it. Questions, suggestions, and comments just out it in the reviews then I may answer you back or thank you through email. You can also email me if it's something private. If there's something wrong with my grammar and way of words, or just anything you want to say, just review. Man, I'm being redundant here. 

Well, that's all. 

Please, please review! Byers! ^_~ 


	3. Undecided

Disclaimer: Even though I wish I did, I do not own Yu-gi-oh.

Silver Dragongurl(SDG): Hey guys, I'm back after a long time of not updating. Oh, and by the way, I got some visitors here...

Jounouchi: Where the hell did you go?! You left Chapter 2 of "Holding Onto You" hanging on!

SDG: Will you stop shouting, Jou! I have my reasons, okay?

Honda (beside Jou): She's right, Jou.

Jou: Oh, so now she's confiding to you about her updates. (pouting) Fine! Then I'm nothing to you anymore?!

Honda: Wha--?! Damn it, Jou, don't get this wrong! (holding up a paper in front of Jou) She gave me this, which was full of her updates and apologies, and wants us to read it to the readers coz right now, she doesn't have the energy to read it.

Jou (looking at SDG, who was lying on her bed and eyes drooping): Yeah, I can see that...

Honda (looks at the paper): Well, let's start from the beginning. First, as she has said in her summary before, she had a writer's mental block and had to think for days on what to put on the next chapter.

Jou: What? As if it's so hard. All she had to do was to let me wake up from that coma in a few days. (Then look at Honda a bit shocked) Unless she won't let me wake up for a long time.

SDG (lifting her head lazily): Jou, don't give out some spoilers!

Jou: Fine, fine! I'll just read your updates. (Snatches the paper from Honda)

Honda: Hey! Show some respect, will ya?!

Jou: Yeah, yeah, whatever! (looks at the paper) Okay, second, just when she thought of a plot already, Holy Week comes and she becomes busy with the its activities. Hey, I never knew Holy Week was that busy.

SDG: It is in the Philippines. Will you just read on...I don't want to keep the readers waiting!

Jou: Okay! So, there are full of activities, and she was part of it. Then, as the Holy Week practically requires waking up so early in the morning (like 3am), she slept for 2-3 days and a lot of her energy was used in that week.

Honda: And lastly, she's sorry if the story in this chapter has a quick pacing. She didn't want to prolong the sad parts, as she wasn't in the mood to. Besides, she wants to write Chapter 4-onwards already.

Jou: Well that should do it. (a pillow was suddenly thrown at him) Hey! What did you do that for! You'll pay for that! 

Honda (smirking): Really? How?

Jou: This! (launches at Honda and kisses him on the lips)

Silver Dragongurl jerks awake when she sees this and squeals in delight. 

Honda (lets go for air): Wait, we're not yet finish.

SDG: Hey, why did you stop! This is a free show for me!

Honda: Man! You're really a yaoi freak! (looks at the readers) Guys, please...Jou stop it! (Jounouchi nibbles at Honda's ear, much to Silver Dragongurl's delight and happiness). Okay, have to say this before Jou devours me. 

Guys, PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!

That should do it! Jou can't take it anymore and Silv's actually jumping for joy watching us. Gotta find some place private. (Honda drags Jou out of Silver Dragongurl's room)

SDG: Hey, no fair! (face the readers) Again, REVIEW people so that I'll have the mood to do Chapter 4 and post it immediately!!! Now to follow those two lovebirds! (goes out of the room)

******************************************************************************

HOLDING ONTO YOU

CHAPTER 3 – UNDECIDED

Nothing prepared Honda for what he saw inside Room 403 when he entered in it. If he had been old, he would have a heart attack right then and there. Instead he flinched at what he saw in front of him. Jounouchi was lying on the hospital bed wearing a hospital gown, and plenty of wires were connected in his body and there was an oxygen mask on his mouth. Then there was a bandage on his head and some on his arms too. He didn't what the other wires were; though he recognized one that connected from Jou's wrist to the dextrose. Then he saw the machine where it showed Jou's heart, and he could hear the faint beep of the blond's heartbeat. As Honda got closer, his knees crumbled that Ryou had to support him. He thought that seeing it from afar was terrible, but it was worse closer. Underneath the gown, he also saw a bandage that Honda knew was wrapped around Jou's upper body. In other words, Jounouchi was in a bad condition and a wreck as well.

"Oh, God. . . who would do such a thing like this?! This is all my fault!" Honda cried as he sunk on the floor, slamming his fist on it. "If I had just followed him when he got out of the house, he wouldn't end up like this! I could have prevented this!" 

"Imooto, don't blame yourself. You didn't know that this would happen."

"But I had a feeling already! I could have followed that!" 

Anzu put his hand on the brunette's shoulder. "Look Honda, if there's someone to blame for what happened to Jounouchi, it's the one who did this to him, and that's not you."

Yugi nodded. "Anzu's right. Nobody's blaming you."

Honda continued crying despite his sister and friends' comforts. He knew it was unmanly to cry in front of people, but right now, he didn't care. Finally after a few minutes, the brunette stood up and sat on a chair beside Jou's bed. He took hold of the blond's hand looked at his sleeping face. "Can I be alone with Jou for awhile?"

The four knew this was coming and nodded their heads. "We'll be outside if you need anything." Leika embraced her brother. "Don't lose hope, Hiroto. . . let's be strong. Jou will need it." Honda nodded slightly, still looking at Jou.

Leika, Anzu, Yugi and Ryou got out of the room and closed the door.

"By the way, Ryou, Leika told us about Honda and Jounouchi. Has Honda told you about it?" Yugi said.

"What? About him being in love with Jou? Yeah, he told me about it."

"I really hope Honda will be okay. By the looks of it, he won't be leaving that room until Jou wakes up."

Leika sighed worriedly, he didn't want to doubt, but she had to admit that there would be a 50-50 chance for Jou to wake up. 

__

If he wakes up.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hey, Jou." Honda held Jou's hand. "Oh man, how do you talk to a comatose person?" He gazed at Jounouchi's face and caressed his cheek with back of his hand. "Oh Jou, why did this have to happen to you? If. . . if only I had followed you. . ." He brushed his golden bangs of his closed eyes as Honda kissed his hand. "Don't worry. I'll be here until you wake up. I will not leave you all alone. I promise you that, Jou. . . I'll stay here." He looked at Jou. "I don't know if you can hear me, Jou, but if you do. . . please wake up soon. I love you very much" (A/N: Alright, Alright. . . very corny. I was in a very happy mood writing this part, so I didn't feel like writing this sad part, so all the corniness are here. -_-;;)

But soon, words failed him as exhaustion started taking over him. Honda tried staying awake. . . the last thing he needed now was to sleep for he had to watch over Jou. But no matter what he did, his head drooped and soon gave in. He lay his head across Jou's hand, and sleep overcame him at last.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It had been two weeks already ever since Jounouchi was confined in the hospital, and almost everyone was beginning to worry, especially Honda, Jou's mother and Shizuka. Two weeks seemed so long for them for Jou not to wake up.

Jou's mother and Shizuka, together with his boyfriend, Shizuka came three hours after Jounouchi as confined and Honda and the others had to calm the older Jounouchi down for an hour. Shizuka was the most affected because she and Jou were beginning to be close, and then suddenly he's lying in a hospital bed, not knowing whether she'll be seeing his older brother smile or laugh again along with her.

"Just when we're making up for those years that we weren't together, and then suddenly he gets beaten up, and I'm not sure if he'll live or not! He's not the type who gets beaten up. . . it's the other way around!" Shizuka once cried on Otogi's shoulder when she saw what her older brother looked liked, the dice-king comforting her.

Honda, on the other hand, hadn't gotten a good night's sleep ever since he decided to stay in the hospital until Jounouchi wakes up. In fact, he hadn't left the hospital ever since. Well, let's not be exaggerated, but he just goes out to either change clothes or got to school.

Heck, he even does his homework in it. So, by the looks of it, Honda's second home now was the hospital. The only thing making Leika not worry was the fact that her younger brother was eating, even if it's lesser than the usual. And, despite Jou being in a coma for two weeks, the brunette was still a bit the same---talking to Yugi and the others, doing his schoolwork, telling stories, etc.---though he was becoming a bit paler and less energetic than before. But then, the others were the same too as everything wasn't the same without Jounouchi joining their group of friends. 

There were others who visited too, like Hikari Marik and Ryou, and Yami and Kaiba as well, who were also a couple already. Everyone was surprised when Kaiba came; it turned out that Yami and Mokuba (who came by afterwards) forced him to come, so he had no choice. Every now and then, Jou's mom and Shizuka (together with Otogi) came by and sometimes stayed for the night with Honda. 

But one thing that got everyone curious was what had caused Jounouchi to be in a coma in the first place. Another add to the mystery was they haven't heard anything about Jou's father, who somehow sort of disappeared after Jou's *accident*. This was usually the topic of the gang (except for Kaiba, Mokuba, and Marik) when they're gathered together in Jou's room, and this was again their topic in this stormy night. (A/N: Really, what is it with stormy nights for me?! Hehehe. . . maybe I just like the effect of it O_o. Anyway, back to the story.)

"Honda, are you really sure you can't find Jou's dad? He hadn't even visited his son." Yugi asked.

"I'm sure of it. I passed by his house many times now and nobody was there. Well, yeah, it's usually like that, but the house looked liked nobody lived there for weeks." Honda said, putting a sushi in his mouth. "And even though Jou's dad is there, you'll still see some life in the house."

"I wonder what happened to him. . . "Anzu looked at Leika, who looked thoughtful. "You okay, Leika? Looks like thinking something deep in there."

The older Honda was silent for awhile, before facing the others. "I've been thinking: Jou's father disappeared right after his son was beaten up. If I put two and two together, my guess is what happened to Jou and his father's disappearance are connected."

Ryou frowned. "Wait Leika. Are you telling us that---"

"I'll go straight to the point. I'm thinking that it was Jounouchi's father who beat up Jou in the first place!" Everyone stared at Leika for a minute before they started talking non-stop.

"How can you be so sure of that, Leika. We don't have proof." 

"Besides, it could be a coincidence."

"It can't be possible."

"And besides, his father can't do that to his son---"

"How sure can that be, Yugi?" Leika looked at the tri-colored haired boy expectantly. "If a man could kill one of his friends, how are you sure that Jou's father can't beat up his son?"

Honda, who remained silent the whole time his friends blabbered about, nodded and spoke up. "Onesan may have a point. Not because she's my sister, but ever since his parents separated, Jou had told me about the beatings that he received from his father. It was only when we were in high school that he told me that the beatings stopped. I believed him at first, but when I started seeing some black and blue marks in his arms, I knew the beating never stopped. I just didn't know why Jou lies to me whenever I mention his bruises and all and tell that he bumped into something or fell, etc." Again, the gang was quiet for a minute before Yugi spoke up.

"That's abuse! We should file a case against his father!" 

"But we don't have any proof. . . unless. . ." Honda looked Jou's comatose form on the hospital bed. ". . . he wakes up and he himself will file a case against his dad, and testify on it as well."

Anzu placed her hand on Honda's. "Don't worry, Honda, he'll wake up soon."

"I hope so, Anzu."

The topic about filing a case against Jou's father was forgotten for awhile as the group ate their dinner in silence, Honda glancing at Jou now and then sadly. What broke the silence though was when the usual faint 'beep, beep, beep' of Jou's heartbeat from the machine disappeared, and was replaced by a loud straight 'beeeeeeeeeep'. Not only did this break the silence, but it alarmed everyone as well, hurriedly getting out from his or her seats.

"What happened?" Anzu asked out of confusion, though it was obvious. 

"Oh God! Anzu, Ryou, call the nurse!" Honda yelled, his heart beating faster. "Jou's heartbeat stopped! Hurry!" In a blink both the two tees were out of the room. "Jou, don't leave us now! Damn it, Jou, don't do this!" He held at Jou's hand tightly with both his hands, and looked at him fearfully. Yugi waited outside for Anzu, Ryou and a nurse, while Leika got hold of his younger brother on the shoulders.

In a few minutes, Dr. Mizuro and three nurses entered the room, one of them pushing a cart that contained the machine to revive the patient's heartbeat. With Ryou, Anzu, and Yugi behind them, the three medical personnel hurriedly went Jounouchi's bedside.

"Hey, what're you doing?!" Honda exclaimed as a redheaded nurse started pushing him and the others out of the room.

"I'm sorry sir, but you all would have to get out of the room for awhile." The nurse said. "It would be better if we do this quietly."

"My best friend is about to die there and all you can think about is to let the noise out Why can't you just do it now while we're here?!" Honda struggled through the nurse's attempts to let him out. The others were almost out of the room; it was only the brunette who didn't want to follow. Before the nurse could reply, Dr. Mizuro spoke up.

"Just do what she says, Hiroto! We don't want any interruptions and we have to concentrate." Ever since Jou was confined, she became very close to the gang and also knew about Honda's feelings for the blond. And because of that, all formalities were dropped out. "Just leave it to us."

The brunette searched the blue-eyed doctor and knew that he could trust her. He stopped struggling (much to the nurse's relief) and nodded as he followed his sister and friends out the room, but not before he spoke up.

"Make him live, Aoi."

Without looking, the blue-haired doctor nodded and Honda saw Jou's chest jerk up as the machine activated. He turned around, but not before he heard the machine activate again and there was still a long loud 'beeeeeeeeeep'.

(A/N: I was supposed to leave it here, but I didn't want to find myself being chased by the readers with pitchforks and knives in their hands. I did cliffhangers on the last two chapters; you might kill me if I leave it here. ^_~)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Outside, the gang wasn't talking to each other, but was on their own world instead. Leika and Anzu were seated on the floor, worry on their faces; Yugi and Ryou were leaned against the wall, fidgeting their fingers, while Honda paced back and forth in front of them. And for the first time, he was very quiet. The others expected him to burst out loudly when he got outside, but for the last ten minutes, he just pacing back and forth quietly.

Jonda had so many emotions now---pain, confusion, anger, worry, nervous---that he didn't know how to voice it all out. So he decided to just wait for some news by pacing back and forth. And he was doing that for ten minutes already. . . and was getting so worried.

Finally, before Leika could tell her younger brother to stop pacing, the door opened and Dr. Mizuro and the nurses came out with the _______, their faces looking tired. But despite that, there were relief and small smiles on their faces.

"What happened?" The gang said altogether.

"Don't worry. Jounouchi's still alive though he's still in a coma. If you called us a little later, we would never have revived him. It's just good that you were all alert."

"But why did his heart stop?" Yugu asked. 

"Heart failure in doctor's terms." Then Dr. Mizuro became thoughtful. "Though it's different for my part. I believe there's something going on inside Jou. To make everything short, Jou's till undecided on waking up. The heart failure shows that there's a part of him that doesn't want to come back into this world."

It took some seconds before this piece of information sank into the group. "But why?" Honda asked.

"Maybe something that happened before he went into a coma, or some problems that he didn't want to face ever. I know you're in doubt, but believe me. Take it from the one who has experienced it."

"You got into a coma too?"

"Yeah, before I fully became a doctor. And that was when I decided that not all are scientific and medicines." She exclaimed. "But enough about me. You should all be inside. . . Jou's all alone there."

"What?! Why did you leave him there?" Honda said as he went inside the room.

Dr. Mizuro chuckled. "Well, I have to go now. I still have some work to do. I'll see you all later." With that, she and the nurses said their good byes and went towards their clinic.

"We have to go too, Leika." Ryou said. "We still have school tomorrow."

"Tell Honda that we'll see him tomorrow."

"Sure." Leika said. "Take care all of you." They said their goody byes before the black-haired girl entered the room. She chuckled as she saw her younger brother sitting on the chair on Jou's bedside, head on his arms and already fast asleep. "That was fast." She whispered as she lay a blanket over Honda's back before she lay down on the other bed and immediately fell asleep. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Damn it, Leika! I just can't help it anymore! Even though I don't want to, I can't help but lose hope! It's going to be almost three weeks, and there's not a single movement in him nor any signs that he'll ever wake up!" This was what greeted Leika when she entered Jou's room a few days after the blond's heart failure.

"Hiroto, calm down, okay? Now, what's wrong?"

Honda flailed his arms. "This is what's wrong! It's almost three weeks and he's not yet awake! I keep talking and telling him almost everything and to wake up and he has a reason to wake up and that Ill always be here whenever he'll have a problem and I'll help him and I'll---"

"Imooto, Imooto, take it easy. Will you breathe for a second? You've been talking non-stop" Then Leika smirked. "You'll never know. . . Jou might wake up because you're so noisy."

"Onesan, I'm not in the mood to joke around."

Leika held up his hand. "Hey, I was just kidding. You know, you just have to be patient." She rubbed his brother's hand for comfort. "Don't hurry him. . . give him some time."

"Three weeks is more than enough time!" Honda cried. "I don't know what's taking him long to decide to come back. . ."

"Hiroto, the important thing is that you did everything to accompany him. In fact, you did more. Jounouchi will wake up, and _when _he does, I'm sure he'll thank you for what you did."

The brunette just sighed and nodded as he stared at his best friend. Not a minute too soon, Leika noticed Honda's hazel eyes and head drooping down. She sighed as she took him by the shoulders.

"Imooto, you're pretty exhausted already. Why don't you go home for now and rest. You almost live here, you know."

"But, Jou---"

"I'll be the one to look after him. Or, if it would make you happy, you can rest on the other bed while I look after Jounouchi. C'mon Hiroto. The last thing I need is for you to collapse in front of me because of lack of sleep."

Though he didn't want to, Honda couldn't resist the look of the bed as he imagined himself lying down there and sleeping peacefully. He hadn't slept lying down for a long time, as he did it sitting, and he can't disagree with his sister now. _It's not going to be in the imagination anymore. . . I'm going to make it come true._ "All right, Leika." He said lazily as sleep was starting to come on him."But wake me up if you need anything or something happens with Jounouchi."

Leika nodded as the brunette got up from the chair and proceeded to the bed, but not before stopping by Jou's bed. "Guess I'll have to wait more. . . don't worry. I'll be here when you decide to wake up." He whispered as he went towards to his destination, ready to jump on the bed, while Leika put the drinks she bought in the fridge.

The Honda siblings stiffened though when they heard groan behind them. . . and the now half-sleepy, half-awake brunette tensed more when a horse voice called him.

"Ho. . .Ho. . . Honda. . ."

******************************************************************************

Well guys, that's Chapter 3. I'm really sorry I left it in a cliffhanger again, but I really couldn't help it *evil laugh*. I am so damn mean! 

I don't; know what you can say about this chappie, but I wasn't in the mood to write this, especially the sad parts and all. It's because I'm excited to write Chapter 4 to onwards. Whatever you can say, please review, especially when it comes to typo errors and grammars.

By the way, I have something for you readers out there. I have this poll that I'm going to ask you coz I need it for one of my Hon/Jou fics and I need your votes. Here are the two (2) questions:

****

*** Which course would fit for Jounouchi when he goes to college?

Medicine (I was thinking he'll become a vet)

Business Management (I'm not sure about this, but it just came on my mind)

Other course (please specify)

****

*** What would be a good first (1st) anniversary gift for Jou from Honda?

The usual Duel Monster deck (I want this to be a special deck. . . something that hasn't been released yet and Honda was able to get one before it really came out.)

Others, please specify

Honda's done already, so no need a poll for him. 

Now, to vote, use either the reviews section or you can email me at **malfoy_gurl09@yahoo.com**with the subject "course/gift". Comments, suggestions and explanations are very welcome! I'll be posting this poll and updating you on it very chapter of "Holding Onto You". But don't worry, the fic that has a poll will not be my next fic. Surprisingly, it's a Marik/Ryou; Yami Marik/Yami Bakura fic. ^_~

By the way, it's April 19 today, and that means that **it's Honda Hiroto's birthday!!!** I already greeted him before he and Jou made out and we're having a birthday celebration tonight in his house. If you happen to pass by him, don't forget to greet him, okay? He's one of my favorite characters in YGO 

Also, finally found Honda and Jou making out in the living room sofa, which is not a private place. And as much as I want to watch them, I respect their privacy so I left them alone. And besides, I', watching the Filipino version of Yu-Gi-Oh now, and I don't want to miss it. It's the Player Killer vs. Yami Yugi!

Well, gotta go now! Please don't forget to review and vote. Thanks! ^_~


	4. Alive and Awake

Disclaimer: Even though I wish I did, I do not own Yu-gi-oh.

Well, here I am again...for Chapter 4. I was rather disappointed that nobody reviewed for Chapter 3. . . where did you all go?! But even so, I'm still posting Chapter 4 as I don't want to suddenly cut this off. If you happen to read this, please review and participate in the poll. I really need your opinions, people. 

Now, I won't make this author's note long so that you can read this chappie already. 

Again review and answer the poll, okay. ^^

**********************************************************************************************

HOLDING ONTO YOU

CHAPTER 4 – AWAKE AND ALIVE 

The Honda siblings stiffened though when they heard groan behind them. . . and the now half-sleepy, half-awake brunette tensed more when a horse voice called him.

"Ho. . .Ho. . . Honda. . ."

All sleep and rest forgotten, the brunette immediately turned around and almost cried in happiness when he saw, for the first time in two and a half weeks, a real movement from the lying person in front of him. Jounouchi was opening his eyes and slender fingers were moving as well.

"Hey guys! Dr. Mizuro's here to check on Jou. I also bought---" Ryou stopped as he entered the room and saw Jou move. 

Then, all so suddenly, the three of them (excluding Dr. Mizuro) ran towards Jounouchi and were talking, laughing and crying at the same time you may think they're crazy.

"You're awake!"

"We thought you'd never wake up!"

"How can you do that to us! You kept us all waiting!"

"Anyway, the important thing is you're damn awake!"

Jounouchi, still groggy and a bit confused, was having a headache with all the noise that was happening around him. "Will you. . . stop? I'm having a headache with. . . all this noise. . ."

"He's right, you know." Dr. Mizuro said as she went to Jou's bedside. "I'd feel the same way if I were Jou. You sort of startled and surprised him with a bang." She chuckled as she saw the three people in front of her blush from embarrassment.

"Now, why don't the three of you step aside while I check if he's really okay now. It's better to be sure." 

The three did as they were told, while they watched Dr. Mizuro check on Jou for some minutes. They chatted quietly and can't wait to tell Yugi and the others. 

After a few minutes, the blue-haired doctor faced them as she put down her stethoscope. "Well, looks like Jounouchi's out of danger already. He's alive. . . and awake."

They went towards Jou happily, who had his hazel eyes open already though he was still frowning. 

"But, you still have to watch him every now and then." Dr. Mizuro said sternly. "His wounds are not yet close to healing and he shouldn't move much. Make sure he eats so that he'll be back to his energetic self again." The three nodded. "He'll be staying here until we say it's okay for him to go."

"Don't worry, doc, we'll take good care of him."

"I know you all will, Honda." Then she faced Jounouchi. "You follow what they're telling you, okay Jou? I know how much of a stubborn boy you are." And with that, she got out of the door. The three laughed as Jou frowned more at the doctor's last words. Though he was awake, he still wasn't aware where he was and who were the people around him.

"Hey, Jounouchi, nice to have you back."

_Okay. . . British accent. . . that's Ryou._ Jou thought.

"Yeah, I can't wait to tell the others 

_A girl? I know I've heard that voice before._

"We missed you, buddy."

_That's definitely Honda_. Jou smiled. How could he forget? In that two-and-a-half week coma, though he could hear voices, only one stood out. Yes, he can hear them though from the outside. And that voice was Honda's. . . talking to him and telling him some stories and all. . . though the brunette was fully aware that he was in a deep, deep sleep. And somehow, it could've been Honda that let Jou wake up in the first place.

And all this thinking was giving him another headache.

"Water. I need wa-water…"

Immediately, Leika got one from the fridge, poured some on a glass and handed it to the blond. Honda and Ryou put the upper part of the bed up so that Jou could sit up enough to drink properly.

"Thanks. That's better now." Jou said as he handed the empty glass to Leika.

Honda placed his hands on his best friend's shoulders. "It's glad to have you back, man."

Jounouchi smiled something the three hadn't seen in a long time. "Me too, Honda." And in truth, he was really glad to be back.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ever since Yugi and the others found out that Jounouchi had woken up, his room was never empty and everyday, it was almost full of people. Some flowers, food and cards filled up his bedside table. Yugi and the others were so happy that he was awake now, especially Jou's mom and Shizuka. And Honda had never seen Jou so happy when they both came for the first time that he was awake; his happy, at the same time, crying face was just priceless. After all, the three of them hadn't seen each other for a long time. . . ever since after Battle City as Shizuka and his mother went back to Germany.

But even though Jounouchi was awake now and kept telling the others that he was already okay, they still kept watch over him and made sure that he ate and rested. They also checked his wounds and found out that they were starting to heal now that Jou's body has enough strength to do it, though he sometimes have a hard time standing up as the wound on his back and front were the worse in his whole body. The wires and machines were lessened; most likely, it was the dextrose that was left.

And Honda, Leika, Yugi, Ryou and Anzu decided that it was not yet time to ask Jou about what happened to him and who had almost killed him through the beatings. They'll wait until he's fully recovered and would have enough strength to tell everything to them. The last thing they needed was for Jounouchi to stay in the hospital a little longer.

It was only on Jou's first weekend awake that he had little visitors, mostly in the morning. So, by Saturday afternoon, the blond was able to lie down and rest, with only Honda in the room; the others were busy with homework.

"I'm glad I'm able to rest quietly now. This room had been full of people the last few days that I didn't have time to just close my eyes. . ." Jou said, looking at Honda. "Hey, the others are busy with homework. . . aren't you going to do yours?"

Honda looked up from the book he was reading and quirked an eyebrow at the blond. "You're asking me that when before we never do our homework, and we had to cram the next morning? I think that coma finally let you come to your senses."

"Well, I just heard from Leika that you practically live here already and do your homework. So, I was just wondering why you're not doing it."

"I'm finished with some of them, and I'm just taking a break now."

"Damn! Homework!" Jou exclaimed, frustrated.

The brunette chuckled. "Don't worry. You're excused from it. And I can fill you up on what's happening in school. But right now, forget about it and just rest. After all, those wounds aren't fully healed yet." He got back into his reading.

"Hey Honda. . ." Jou said, after a few minutes of silence.

"Hmmm?" 

"Um, Leika told me what you did while I was in a coma and that you watched over me 24/7. I. . . I. . . well, I just want to tell you how much I really appreciate what you did. You don't how much it meant to me." Jou said as he looked down on his fingers. In truth, he did that because he was practically blushing and didn't want to show it. In fact, he didn't know why he was blushing too much.

The brunette placed a bookmark on the page he was reading and tossed it on the other bed, then smiled sheepishly at his best friend. "Oh that. . . well, I'm glad you did. And that's what best friends are for."

"Yeah." Jou was still looking down on his fingers. "Uh. . . Honda. . . ummm. . . I want to talk about that day when I suddenly ran away from you. You know the day when----"

"----when I told you my feelings for you." Honda said, all the cheerfulness in his voice and face gone.

"Uhm, yeah. Look Honda, I know and I can see that you do love me. In truth, I. . ." _Darn it! How am I going to say this. Grrrr!!! Maybe this is one of the reasons why I woke up._ Well, yeah, he didn't want to see his family and friends so sad because he was still in a coma. Also, one way or another, though e really didn't want to wake up and face the real world, he had to face his problems. But the main reason was that he really wanted to talk to Honda about their feelings towards each other. Jounouchi knew he and the brunette will not e the same as before. _I have to tell him. . . _

"In truth, I. . . I'm really sorry, Honda, but I. . . I can't return your feelings. . . for now. I'm. . . I'm not ready for to go in relationship yet, especially with you. . ."

"Me? Why? Did I do anything wrong?" Honda asked, voice shaking.

"No! It's not you. . . it's me. I'm really not ready. . . please understand. . . I can't return your feelings for awhile. . ." _And besides, if you ever found out that I'm not as clean as you think I am, I'm sure you'll wish you hadn't met me. After all, who would want somebody like me who had been raped by his own father many times?! I'm as dirty as a pig._

"I understand, Jou. After all, I did surprise you by kissing you immediately and telling you without warning that I hadn't thought of your reaction." He looked away though, and felt tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Honda, I'm really sorry." Jou said when he saw his best friend look away. "I didn't mean to hurt you like this." _And I'm sorry to push you way like this. It's the only way for us not to get hurt. In truth, I really do love you and the last thing I want to happen is you wishing that hadn't met me when you find out about what really happened to me. _

The brunette wiped his face with his sleeve before facing Jou. "No, it's okay. I expected too much so it's my fault. Don't worry, I won't force you into something you don't want. I. . . I can wait."

"Thanks, Honda."

"No prob."

"Uh, another question though. Since when did you start reading the Harry Potter series? I can't believe you're reading 'The Order of the Phoenix' already!" 

Honda looked back over his shoulder to see the thick, hardbound blue book that he tossed on the bed and chuckled. "Two weeks after Battle City. I just finished 'Goblet of Fire' last week."

"Wow, Honda. . . I didn't know you could read!"

"Hey, take that back!" 

But before Jou could reply to that, Honda had thrown a pillow from the other bed to the blond and hit him square on the face. Soon, a mini-pillow fight began that lasted for more than ten minutes.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next days were back to normal for both boys despite the serious talk that they had. Both had agreed never to discuss about that again, and now they were back to talking, laughing, teasing and all just like the nest friends that they were.

And nothing could have made Jounouchi happier when Dr. Mizuro announced that he could get out the hospital the next day after being in there for almost three weeks. Though she told the others that they still have to watch over him because his wounds weren't still fully healed.

"I've got three words for you, Jou." Dr. Mizuro reminded. "Rest. Sleep. Eat."

"I've been doing the first two the whole damn three weeks! Do I need to do those even out of the hospital?"

"Yes, because you've lost too many before you were confined." She said sternly, hands on her hips. "You lost lots of iron and nutrients which made your whole system weak. . . one of the reasons why your wounds are still there. Be thankful that your fever's gone. Don't worry, Domino High excused you already until you're okay to go back to school. "

Jou made a face and crossed his arms. "Fine, fine! Whatever you say, doc!"

Everybody rejoiced when they heard the news that there was a small celebration in Jou's room that night. Yugi, Ryou, Marik, Anzu, Leika, Honda, Yugi, Yami, Shizuka, and Otogi were all there and some of them bought some food. Jou's mother had work, but she promised to bring her son home the next day. Jounouchi was sitting up on the bed as he and everyone else started eating. 

"You're finally going home, eh, Jou." Otogi said, his hands entwined with Shizuka's.

Jounouchi made a face at seeing this, making everyone laugh. "Yeah, but don't expect me to greet you like a brother whenever you come to visit my sister at home."

"Uh big brother, I. . . I won't be staying home. I still have school in Germany, remember?"

"Oh yeah, almost forgot." In fact, Jou's happy that his younger sister won't be staying at he and his father's house. If she only knew what their father was like. Even he didn't want to go back there because he didn't want the nightmare to repeat again. And speaking of their father. . . 

"And besides, you still have dad there."

Jou almost dropped his glass of juice the moment Shizuka said this, so there was a patch of orange on his white hospital gown.

"Hey Jou, buddy, you okay?" Honda asked, concerned. He noticed this action, plus Jou's face had fear when Shizuka mentioned about their father. _Jou's hiding something. I know it_.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Hey, I'm still hungry. Can I have another pizza?"

While he ate, Honda, Leika, Yugi, Ryou and Anzu noticed Jou's sudden change of behavior awhile ago, and they all exchanged knowing glances.

Almost the whole night, everyone laughed, ate and talked about anything and everything. If Dr. Mizuro hadn't entered at around twelve midnight, they wouldn't stop the celebration.

"Hey, I know you're all happy that Jounouchi's finally getting out of here, but there are other patients in this hospital that need peace and quiet." She said, hands on her hips, though there was a hint of amusement in her blue eyes. "Now, all of you pack up so that everyone can rest now. Who staying tonight?"

"I am." Honda said.

"Oh, why the hell am I asking anyway?" She said, rolling her eyes. The gang laughed as Honda blushed.

"But, I'll be staying for awhile. We want to talk to Jou first before we go." Leika said 

In ten minutes, Jounouchi's room was back to normal again, and everyone (except for Honda and Leika) had left. 

"Jou," Leika began. "Honda and I want to talk to you about something. Actually, Yugi, Anzu and Ryou wanted to stay too, but I said we could handle this. Now, we didn't want to do this before as you just woke up, but I think today would be okay."

Jounouchi knew this was coming. If he were not mistaking, the two people in front of him would ask him about what happened to him before he became unconscious.

"Jou. . . what exactly happened to you before you became unconscious?"

_I knew it._ "Uhm, can we talk tomorrow? I'm kind of sleepy."

Honda got hold of Jou's arm. "No, we can't talk tomorrow. We want to talk _now._ Besides, we know you're not sleepy because you almost slept the whole day. Now, answer the question Jou. . ."

The blond sighed. One way or another, he's gonna have to tell them what really happened. . . and maybe who did this to him. But no matter what, he's going to leave out the fact that his father raped him many times, and almost did on the night that he was beaten.

"Alright. What choice do I have? Somebody beat me up that night."

"And who's this somebody, Jounouchi?" Leika asked.

"Look, it doesn't matter who that somebody is 'coz you don't know him anyway. And besides, it was rather my fault because, uh, I bumped into him. Not looking where I'm walking." Jou lied, not looking at the two siblings.

Honda quirked an eyebrow. "Jou, I've known you for a long time, so I know whether you're lying or not. So right now, you're definitely lying. And besides, we don't care whether we know that person or not. We're still going to find him." The brunette crossed his arms. "Now, who did this to you?"

Jounouchi looked at the two siblings in front of him, and sighed inwardly. _I cant lie to them. . .they'll know one way or another. And besides, I can't think of anybody now except my fucking dad! I guess I have no choice._

"Fine, fine, I'll tell you." Jou breathed. "It's. . . it's my dad."

Silence. Then Leika spoke up. "I knew he had something to do with this, After all, we couldn't think of anybody else, and somehow everything was connected to him. You should file a case against him."

"File a case? Uh-uh, no way! Look I don't want this to get big and be an issue. It's not that important anymore." 

"But it is important, Jou." Honda exclaimed. "He'll pay for what he did to you. . . he almost killed you. And why didn't you tell me that he never stopped beating you?" He added, a trace of hurt in his voice.

"I. . . I did. I told you that he stopped."

"But that was a lie to stop me from killing your dad! I wish you could've have told me. . . we could have prevented you from almost being killed."

Jou placed his hand over Honda's. "Hey, I know how much you were worried, but that was in the past now. The important thing is that I'm alive and will be out of here tomorrow, right?"

Honda nodded. "But promise me that no more keeping secrets from me."

_Oops. . . I've broken that already before you even said it. _Jou sighed inwardly. _I'm sorry, Honda, but I'm going to have to lie again_. "Okay, I promise no more secrets, Honda." Both boys smiled. "Now, about filing a case against my father, there's no way I'm going to do that! I told you, I don't this to get big, so let's just forget about it."

"And what? Wait until he beats up somebody else? If we leave it like that, for all we know, he might beat attack Shizuka----"

"I said forget about it, okay?!" Jou yelled angrily. Then, he abruptly turned his head towards the window.

The brunette sighed. "Alright, if that's what you want. I know this was hard for you and we don't want to force you."

"But if you happen to change your mind. . ." Leika put her hand on Jou's as she stood up. ". . . we're always here to help." The blond nodded, still looking at the window.

"I have to go now, Imooto." The black-haired girl said as she walked towards the door. "Jou's mom will be here around nine in the morning, so be prepared." Honda nodded at her sister as she opened the door.

"Wait." Both Honda and Leika turned their heads to face Jounouchi, who was now looking down on his fingers. "I've been thinking about this since I found out I'll be out of here in a few hours. I want to ask something."

"What is it, Jounouchi?" Leika asked, closing the door.

"Uhm. . ." Honda noticed that the blond was fidgeting his fingers uncontrollably. "Uhm. . . I know it might be a big bother for you, but. . ." Jou breathed. "Well, could I. . . could I stay with you for. . . some. . . time? In truth, I really don't want to go back in our house again. I don't want to see my father after what he has done to me."

"So, you don't want to stay with your father for awhile?"

"Yes. But. . . it's okay if you don't want to. I mean, I'm not expecting that you'll suddenly agree because it would be a big bother for you." Jou said. "I just can't help but ask."

Honda and Leika looked at each other, and without hesitation, both siblings nodded at each other and the black-haired girl smiled at the blond teen. "Jounouchi, you know that you're always welcome in our house. And you're also welcome to stay. We understand how you feel."

"You can stay in our house as long as you want to."

Jou looked up. "Really? Won't I be much of a burden to you?"

Honda laughed. "Burden? Jou, you almost live there, so you're almost part of our family already."

"Plus, we can't look after you if you lived with your father, judging by what he did to you, we might not see you alive in a few days. Remember, you're still not fully well." Leika said, scowling when she mentioned about Jou's father. "Oh, and it's timing too 'coz I'll be out of the house for a month or two."

"Where are you going?" Jou asked.

"She's visiting her husband in Europe who works there. But I'll doubt that she'll be there for only a month or two. Knowing those two. . ." Honda chuckled. 

Leika narrowed her eyes on her younger brother. "Hey, you pervert, stop it! I'll be leaving in three days, so I can still take care of Jou while Honda's out in school. By the time I'll be gone, maybe Jou can take care of himself. . . provided he won't do anything that would tire his body. Hey Jou, better keep my brother company, okay? I'm sure _you _two will be just fine." She said this last sentence with a wink, and both boys understood what she meant as both boys blushed, Honda being the reddest.

"Onesan---!"

"Well, I have got to go as it's very late already. See ya tomorrow, boys!" And with that, Leika immediately got out of the room. Honda shook his head and rolled his eyes as he faced Jou. 

"Man, isn't she some---" Honda noticed Jou shaking. "Hey Jou, you okay?"

The blond looked up and the brunette saw some tears falling down his cheeks. "Honda, thank you. . . for letting me stay there. I really don't want to go back to that house ever! It would be another nightmare for me if I was to stay there ever again!" Jou suddenly cried, making Honda so surprised. _Jounouchi never cried, except when his close friends were hurt. But even there, he never cried this hard. Among the two of us, I can say that I'm the one who cries more. The way he's crying now, it looks like he's so scared._ The brunette thought as he came closer and embraced Jou, the said blond crying harder on his chest.

"Sssshhh. . . it's okay buddy. As I told you awhile ago, you can stay with in our house for as long as you want." Honda said, patting the blond's back. To his relief, he stopped shaking and his cries subsided a little, but his head was still on the brunette's chest. _Something tells me Jou didn't only get a beating from his father. **I** have never seen Jou this scared ever._ Only when Honda felt there was no movement below that his thoughts were broken. He looked down to see Jounouchi asleep on his chest, some tear streaks visible on his cheeks. _He may have slept the whole day, but that little celebration really tired him._

Honda wiped away the tear streaks with his thumb as he lay Jou on his bed. The blond stirred a little, but all the while that the brunette lay him and placed a blanket on his chest, Jou was fast asleep. As he did this, Honda noticed that Jou's hand was holding his wrist. For somebody who was asleep, Jou was holding it a little bit tightly and the brunette was having a hard time taking it off. 

"Stay here. . ." Jou mumbled, though Honda saw that he was still asleep. He sighed, as Jou showed no signs of letting his wrist go. _Somebody up there must hate me to let me in this kind of situation. There's no way I'm going to sleep beside him. What if Jou sees me tomorrow morning? He might think I'm taking advantage of him. Damn it!_ Honda waited and even tried to tug out his hand many times, but it seems Jou's hand was awake despite his whole body being asleep.

"Fine! As if I have a choice! I can't stand here all night, I mean morning. . . I'm getting sleepy!" He grumbled, as he lay beside Jou. The moment he did this, Jou's hand let go of Honda's wrist, and for a second the brunette thought of getting out of bed. But the fact that he was lying on the bed and getting sleepy was stopping him from doing it. His eyes started closing, but not before he felt Jou's head on his chest and placed his arm around the blond and soon fell asleep.

***********************************************************************************************

Waaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!! What a long chapter and I think it was boring. Not much action. . . more on the talkies. Well, whatever you want to tell, whether about the chapter, the grammar and spelling, typo graphical errors, or the like, just put press the purple button and type it all the way. I need some reviews so that I'll be inspired to the next chapters!!! ^^

By the way, I have something for you readers out there. I have this poll that I'm going to ask you 'coz I need it for one of my Hon/Jou fics and I need your votes. Here are the two (2) questions:

****

Which course would fit for Jounouchi when he goes to college?

Medicine (I was thinking he'll become a vet)

Business Management (I'm not sure about this, but it just came on my mind)

Other course (please specify)

****

What would be a good first (1st) anniversary gift for Jou from Honda?

The usual Duel Monster deck (I want this to be a special deck. . . something that hasn't been released yet and Honda was able to get one before it really came out.)

Others, please specify

Honda's done already, so no need a poll for him. 

Now, to vote, use either the reviews section or you can email me at **malfoy_gurl09@yahoo.com**with the subject "course/gift". Comments, suggestions and explanations are very welcome! I'll be posting this poll and updating you on it on every chapter of "Holding Onto You". But don't worry, the fic that has a poll will not be my next fic. Surprisingly, it's a Marik/Ryou; Yami Marik/Yami Bakura fic. ^_~

So, that's all for now. Review and vote, guys! Thanks ^_^


	5. Awkwardness Part 1

Disclaimer: Oh dear, I do wish I own Yu-Gi-Oh, but alas, it belongs to Takahashi Kazuki. But nevertheless, I'm not complaining...as Takahashi is a good artist! That's why YGO is so damn popular now, right? XD 

**Author's Notes:** Well, well, here's another chapter again. And as usual, little reviews again. But no matter what, for those who reviewed, I truly appreciate your reviews. And for those who answered the poll, the first one is my email bud, **the Ghost of Jounouchi**, thank you as well. Don't worry, I'll still continue to post the poll in the next chapters to come. Yes! I'm still finishing this fic even though I have little reviews. I don't want history to repeat again where two of my Harry Potter fics were never ever finished (two years have passed already). No matter what, I'm determined to finish this fic. 

And I believe I have some explanation to do. Yes, I know---it's been more than a month already that I haven't posted this chapter. Well, it's been a busy summer for me as I was a pollwatcher last Philippine National Elections, then my requirements for transferring in another university, and also, mental block. But, just when the mental block is gone, ideas kept popping in my mind and I'm in the mood to type, what happens?! OUR DAMN COMPUTER BREAKS DOWN AND GETS SENT TO THE COMPUTER SHOP FOR A WEEK!!! And then it comes back, and what happens?! BLUE SCREEN ALWAYS APPEARS IN FRONT OF ME AND I CAN'T EVEN USE THE COMPUTER WITHOUT IT COMING OUT!!! TT You know those "Press to continue" thingy. . . IT'S SO DAMN IRRITATING!!! WHAT'S THE USE OF BRINGING IT TO THE COMPUTER SHOP IF IT WON'T GET FIXED AT ALL!!! Damn computer---IT'S MORE ANCIENT THAN ANCIENT EGYPT Oo (I know it's a bit exaggerated, but you know what I mean). I had to use a computer in the computer shop just to type some of this away!!! I DON'T BELIEVE THIS!!! 

But enough of the ranting for me XD I just think I owe all of you an explanation after disappearing for more than a month. At least it's here. . .and so folks----read and review!!! 

Some reminders again: 

Amber eyes - Jounouchi 

Hazel eyes - Honda 

And yeah...this is a yaoi fic, so if you're a yaoi hater...OUT, OUT, OUT!!! pushes a yaoi hater out of the room 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

**HOLDING ONTO YOU by silver dragongurl**

As what Leika had said last night, Mrs. Jounouchi came in the hospital at exactly nine 'o clock. BY that time, both boys were awake and Jou's things were ready. So. After saying goodbye to Dr. Mizuro and the other nurses who knew him, they were on the road with Mrs. Jounouchi on the wheel and Honda on the passenger seat. 

"Hey mom, I know this is a last minute request, but could you drop me off at Honda's?" Jou asked nervously from the back seat of the car. "I'm going to stay with them for awhile so that Honda and Leika could look after me." 

"But honey, you have your father at home. He can take care of you." 

Jounouchi rolled his eyes mentally. _Yeah right. If he can't even take care of his family, how the hell can he even take care of me. Why the hell did you divorce him anyway, mom?!_ He was about to voice this out, but then decided he didn't want to have a heated argument with his mother. It usually happens whenever they talk about Mr. Jounouchi. 

"Uh mom, let's just say that I'd rather have Honda and my friends take care of me than dad. I hope that would be fine with you." Jou said. The blond didn't know if he was imagining it, but he though he heard his mother sigh in relief. 

"Okay honey, if that's what you want." She said as she turned left in an intersection instead of right. And throughout the whole trip, the three people were silent especially Honda and Jounouchi as they were still both sleepy and tired. 

When they got to Honda's house, Leika was there to greet them and helped Honda in helping Jou as his upper body was still in pain because of the wounds. But being the stubborn boy that he was, he shrugged off their hands. 

"Look, I am not an old man, so I can walk by myself, okay?!" And with that he walked, though slowly, towards inside the house. 

"I'm sorry, but Katsuya has always been stubborn. He got that from his father." Mrs. Jounouchi said from the gate. 

"I know, Mrs. Jounouchi." Honda said. "I'm used to him being like that already. But this will still be a challenge for us. Don't worry, we promise to take care of him and bring him back to his energetic self." 

The older Jounouchi smiled. "Thank you, Hiroto, Leika. I'm sorry if I can't be with him now, but I have some work to do back in Germany." 

"Don't worry, ma'am. I know Jounouchi understands." Leika said. 

Jou's mother nodded as she got inside the car. They two siblings said their goodbye to her before they went inside to see Jounouchi sitting by the kitchen table, and eating the spaghetti that Leika had cooked. Honda chuckled at seeing this. _Some things never change at all._

"Hey Jou, I see you're having a good time eating there. But don't forget to share." Honda said as he sat beside the blond and got a fork from the table. 

Leika rolled here eyes. "There goes the lunch." 

"Hey, give us a break. We never got to eat breakfast." 

"Fine, fine! I'll just cook another food. I'll be upstairs fixing Jou's bed, so if you two need anything, just call me." She turned her heel towards stairs. 

Jounouchi looked at the brunette questioningly. "My bed? What bed? Am I going to sleep in another room?" 

Honda's face fell at Jou's last question, but smiled immediately. "Well, after what happened this morning, I told Leika to put a separate bed inside my room for you. But. . . if you want to sleep in another room, we can immediately fix that up. I'll got tell Leika---" 

Jou got hold of Honda's wrist. "No, no, a separate bed would be fine. The last thing I want is for me to sleep in another room all by myself in this, well, condition. At least, even though I have a separate bed, I'm still in the same room as you are and I would have no problem in asking for something." 

"You sure?" 

The blond nodded. "I'm sure. Uhm. . . thanks Honda. You thought of what I would feel after what happened this morning. 

"Uh. . . okay." Honda said as he ate some spaghetti. Jou couldn't look at Honda in the eye when they both woke up and found how close they were; Jou's head on the brunette's chest and the latter's hand around the blond. They had been awkward for awhile, especially when Honda was doing a last minute preparation of Jou's things. But the brunette couldn't take away the fact that somehow, Jounouchi was blushing furiously the moment they separated. Though his head was down, Honda had noticed this and he didn't know what that blush was all about. 

Honda's thoughts were broken though when he suddenly noticed a hand moving in front of him. 

"Hey Honda, you okay? You totally spaced out." 

The brunette blinked. "What? I did?" 

"Yeah." The blond was smirking. "In fact, you were so busy thinking of something that a string of spaghetti is hanging by your mouth now." 

"What?!" Honda cried out as he put the said spaghetti inside his mouth. "Why didn't you tell me?!" 

By now, Jou was laughing. "I was trying to, but it's like you didn't hear me at all." 

"Stop laughing, will ya!" He said scowling as he got a tissue and wiped his mouth. "It's not funny." Honda scowled even more as the blond continued laughing. _Yeah, some things never really change, no matter what._

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

"Man, I'm hungry." Jounouchi grumbled as he awoke from his day's rest. He glanced at the wall clock and saw that it was already one 'o clock in the afternoon. _No wonder my stomach's grumbling._ The blond sat up, but not without wincing in pain. Though it had been a week since he arrived from the hospital and his wounds were in the process of healing, the pain was still there. In other words, he shouldn't be moving too much. 

Jounouchi proceeded to go downstairs, and found that he was alone again, though he was a bit used to it already. Since Leika had gone to Europe and Honda was always in school, Jou was usually left alone. He went in the kitchen to find some food, but not before he noticed a note from Honda on the table. 

_Hey Jou,_

_I don't want to wake you up as you need some rest. I suspect that you'll be up late, so I just left some fried chicken, noodle soup and rice in the microwave oven. Just heat it up, and you can eat all you want._

_Anyway, I'll be back around 4 or 5 in the afternoon, so you take care of yourself and don't move too much. Plus, don't tire yourself too._

_See ya later, buddy! _

_Honda =)_

Jounouchi smiled as he reread the letter. Though Honda's notes tend to be overreacting and too much, the blond couldn't help but be happy knowing that somebody cared this much for him no matter what. He was looking forward to Honda's arrival at home because it was depressing being alone in the house nowadays. He glanced inside the oven and saw the food that Honda mentioned in the note, and heated it. In about ten minutes, the food was in front of him and Jou started eating. 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

"You know, I'm glad that the teachers had an emergency meeting 'coz we get to go home early." Honda said to Ryou as they walked towards Honda's house. "And, I could look after Jounouchi more." 

"Yeah, me too. And the good thing about that is we get to have a long weekend." Ryou said, winking. "I already have plans. . . starting tonight." 

The brunette rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, Ryou, you don't have to tell me. I know who's the other one involved with these plans. I'm sure you and Marik would have a good time tonight. . . you always do." 

"Honda!" Ryou blushed. The brunette just laughed as the white-haired boy continued to blush. They walked in silence for a few minutes before Honda put his hands on his pockets and sighed. 

"Is something wrong, Honda?" Ryou asked as soon as he heard the sigh. 

"It's Jounouchi." The brunette said. "I have a feeling he's hiding something from me." 

"What would he be hiding from you? You're best friends and you tell things to each other that even we don't know." 

"Yeah, but not since after Battle City. I felt that he's not telling me everything. Ryou, I have never seen Jou so scared and cry so much on the last night in the hospital when he was telling me that he didn't ever want to go back to his house. He said that it would be another nightmare if he ever go back there." 

The white-haired teen put his hand on his chin. " So, are you saying that it wasn't only beatings that Jounouchi received from his father?" 

Honda nodded. "Yeah. I have something in mind of what could've really happened in that house, but I don't want to jump into conclusions yet. I have to be sure first." 

"But you know, Honda, just what Jounouchi's father did to him, he should pay for that! He almost killed him!" Honda had already mentioned to Ryou about he and Leika's talk with Jou the night before he left the hospital and now knew who had beaten up the blond. 

"I know, Ryou, but it's Jou who doesn't even want to file a case against the old man. He didn't want to make the issue bigger, but I think he's just scared to do that because he would have to relive whole the incident." Honda said sadly as they stopped in front of his house. "Hey, Ryou, wanna go inside?" 

Ryou nodded. "Sure. I want to visit Jounouchi and see how he's doing." 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

Jounouchi stopped getting his second serving of rice as he heard the front door open. How could someone get in here? It's only Honda who has the key, but he won't be home until later. He thought as he stood up, but not before he grabbed a spatula from the table as had a suspicion that it was a thief. 

The moment Jounouchi heard the door close, he ran out of the kitchen and started hitting the intruder without even looking at him. 

"Ah! Ah! Hey, stop it!" The "intruder" yelled, shielding himself from the blond's hits with his hands. "Ah! Jounouchi!" 

The amber-eyed teen stopped as the "intruder" said his name and put down his arm, He gasped when he saw who it was. 

"Oh my. . . Honda!" Jou exclaimed as he helped the brunette towards the kitchen and let him sit in one of the chairs. "Honda, I'm really sorry. I didn't know it was you. . . I didn't expect it. And. . . wait a minute! What're you doing home so early?!" 

Honda groaned as he rubbed his head. "Well. . . there was a emergency teachers' meeting and we had the whole afternoon off, much to my delight. But it seems. . ." The brunette glared at his blond best friend. ". . . somebody's not even happy to see me!" 

"Honda, I'm really sorry, and you said in the note that you'll be back at four 'o clock. . . so you can't blame me. The least you could do next time is, well, knock. . ." 

"Fine, fine, whatever you say, Jou. . ." Both boys jumped though when they heard somebody chuckle. 

"Oh, I forgot about you, Ryou. Sorry. . ." Honda said sheepishly. 

The white-haired teen smiled. "Oh, that's okay. But you were really funny awhile ago, Honda." 

The brunette rolled his eyes. "Oh great! What am I. . . a clown? But don't worry, Jou, I'm not mad." 

"Ei Honda, have you eaten already? I've got some extra food here." Jounouchi said as he presented the food. "My crave to eat more disappeared when you came." 

"Don't worry, I'm already finished. Me, Ryou, Anzu, Yami and Yugi already ate lunch in Burger World after the school dismissed early to celebrate." Honda pushed back the food. "you're the one who should---Jou?" 

The blond had suddenly stood up and didn't wait for Honda to finish talking. He walked towards the living room without looking back, sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. 

Honda stared at Jou's back in confusion, then turned to Ryou. "What's wrong with him? Did. . . did I say something wrong?" The last thing he wanted was to hurt his best friend. 

"I think you did, Honda. . .not intentionally though. I think it had something to do when you said about us eating lunch in Burger World." 

"Oh. I think I know what's wrong with him, now that you mentioned it." Honda stood up. "I'm sorry, Ryou, but I have to talk to him." 

The white-haired teen nodded. "Don't worry about me. I have to go anyway." He turned towards the door. "See ya." They said their goodbyes, before he went out of the house. 

The brunette looked back at Jououchi who was now watching a basketball game (though Honda knew he wasn't watching at all). He stood up from the kitchen stool, went towards the the living room and sat beside the blond. 

"Jounouchi?" 

The blond didn't even stir at the sound of his name. And even though it looked like Jou was watching, Honda noticed that his head was bent down a little casting a shadow over his amber eyes. 

"Jou?" The brunette placed his hand on the blond's. "What's wrong?" 

"You know very well what's wrong, Honda!" Jou's voice was shaking. "You know well what!" 

"Did it have to do with what I said awhile ago about us eating lunch?" 

"Honda, you don't how much it gets lonely here! While you and the others are eating and talking happily out there, I'm here all alone. It's so depressing." The blond put his head up and Honda noticed his eyes glistening. "I know I said I didn't want to go back to our house, but this is even worse than that! I...I miss my old life, I miss hanging out with my friends...I miss hanging out with my best friend..." 

"Jou, why didn't you tell me you felt this way?" Honda asked, placing his hands on the blond's. "In truth, we also miss you. There's nobody to make us laugh and to make the conversations alive. And...I admit that we're not used to having a quiet lunch..." 

Jounouchi smiled through his tears. 

"Finally, I got a smile from you I'm sorry about mentioning the lunch awhile ago. And I'm sorry if you had to experience this, but it's for your own good. Besides, it's just temporary. You'll be hanging out with us in no time" Honda chuckled when his best friend frowned. 

"What do you mean?" 

"I talked to Dr. Mizuro, and she said you can go back to school anytime, though you still have to keep the bandages. She believes you're strong enough for school." 

Jounouchi's face lit up, something the brunette hadn't seen in weeks. "Really?! Honda, that's great! I have never, ever been so happy to go back to school!" 

Jou, giddy with apparent joy, leapt on Honda in a crushing, friendly hug. This sudden move surprised the latter, as both of them crashed to the couch, Honda lying on his back. Needless to say, the blond was on top of him. 

At first, both boys didn't realize this and stayed in their current position where Jou was still hugging his best friend and smiling with eyes closed, while Honda still had the surprised look on his eyes when the blond suddenly hugged him. 

"Ho-Honda..." 

The surprised look in the brunette's hazel eyes disappeared when a soft, husky voice called his name. He blinked a few times and gasped when he saw Jounouchi's amber eyes staring at him and stared back as well. 

And for that long moment, they stared at each other as if there was no tomorrow. 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

Waaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!! Finally, I've finished Chapter 5...and now I'm on my way to doing Chapter 6. What a long chapter and I think it was boring. Not much action...more on the talkies...again. How was it? Please do review, so that I'll have more energy to finish this story (and I really want to so that I can do my other stories). And, it's sort of a cliffhanger...I'm sorry, but I can't help it! smiles evilly But at least I was able to finish it already...AT LAST!!! AFTER DAYS OF NOT HAVING A COMPUTER!!! Well, whatever you want to tell, whether about the chapter, the grammar and spelling, typo graphical errors, or the like, just put press the purple button and type it all the way. I need some reviews so that I'll be inspired to the next chapters!!! Again, I'm really sorry for the long, long wait! I'll try my best not to do it again. 

By the way, I have something for you readers out there. I have this poll that I'm going to ask you 'coz I need it for one of my Hon/Jou fics and I need your votes. Here are the two (2) questions: 

**Which course would fit for Jounouchi when he goes to college?**

--> Medicine (I was thinking he'll become a vet) ---> though I'm starting to reconsider this, but your answers are still welcome. 

--> Business Management (I'm not sure about this, but it just came on my mind) 

--> Other course (please specify) 

**What would be a good first (1st) anniversary gift for Jou from Honda?**

-->The usual Duel Monster deck (I want this to be a special deck. . . something that hasn't been released yet and Honda was able to get one before it really came out.) 

-->Others, please specify 

Honda's done already, so no need a poll for him. 

Now, to vote, use either the reviews section or you can email me at **malfoygurl09yahoo.com** with the subject "course/gift". Comments, suggestions and explanations are very welcome! I'll be posting this poll and updating you on it on every chapter of "Holding Onto You". But don't worry, the fic that has a poll will not be my next fic. 

Last minute requests: All you Seto/Yami fans out there...or any yaoi fans to say the least, I'm inviting you to read **Merry-go-Round**, **The Unfaithful** and **Young Blood** by my fellow writer, Mooguri Klaine. You'll definitely like her stories...I just love the way she writes...and she draws great too! bows down on a blue altar with Mooguri Klaine's picture on it XD So, read and review it...the same goes with my story, ok?   



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